


I Can’t Help But Pull The Earth Around Me

by OurDeal



Series: I Open My Eyes and I See That It's You [3]
Category: National Football League RPF
Genre: M/M, OOC, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 11:13:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17222969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OurDeal/pseuds/OurDeal
Summary: Jimmy is six weeks out from having surgery and has fully healed from it. Eleonora Aster ends up getting sick for the first time and it causes quite a panic for Jimmy and his friends (Work title comes from 'A Ship To Wreck' by Florence And The Machine). One-shot.*Total work of fiction^No footballs were harmed in the making of this story





	I Can’t Help But Pull The Earth Around Me

            The fluorescence of the lights have his nerves on edge and the plastic of the seat is not making anything better. He wants to scream at anyone who walks by—be it, nurse or doctor, the only reason being that he’s waited for almost 4 hours to hear from the doctor. He wishes that it were him behind the ICU doors instead of his daughter—the one he lives for is now fighting for her life and he can’t do anything about it. He wishes that he would have picked up on the symptoms sooner and would have gotten her the medical attention she needed…but instead before he could even blink the situation became dire. There is no way that he can spare any tears, he’s already cried too much for one night. Taking in a few deep breaths, Jimmy decides to unlock his phone and call the one person who could understand his struggle—or at least freak out with him.

            “Hey man, what’s up? It’s like 7 in the morning.” Danny’s sleep filled voice filters through the speakers of the phone. Jimmy doesn’t want to sound like he’s been sobbing his heart out, but he’s been sobbing his heart out. Sighing to himself, he gathers the courage to open his mouth and utter the words that have changed his situation.

            “She’s in the ICU—Eleonora is in the ICU, Danny.” Is all he can bring himself to say. Not even being able to know what caused it hurts him more, because part of him wants to fix it but the other part just wants her to not be sick. He doesn’t want to see her in pain—knowing all of the heartaches he’s faced for her. He can hear things moving around from Danny’s end of the phone call before a familiar beeping from his phone alerts him that what he once thought was a phone call has turned into a video call. Looking up at the ceiling of the waiting room, he tries his best to will tears from not falling.

            “Hey…uh, yeah…she’s in the ICU. I haven’t seen a doctor yet, and no one will tell me anything. As soon as I got her here, a nurse took her from my arms and just rushed her into one of the rooms from behind the ‘do not enter’ sign. I didn’t think that catching whatever she caught would turn into something serious. I don’t know what to do, and I’ve just been left here waiting for someone—anyone really, to tell me what is wrong with my baby.” Jimmy’s tears leave tracks down his face, and he doesn’t care that Danny can see him on the other end. Danny is now wishing that he could be there with Jimmy, but being on the east coast puts a gigantic barrier between them both. Danny can’t just fly out on a whim, even if it is the off-season.

            “Oh, Jimmy…what happened? How did she get sick?” Danny’s voice has a tinge of sadness to it, and knowing that Danny feels like he’s being ripped in half, Jimmy can appreciate the sentimentality of the tone. He sometimes wishes that everything would have worked out differently—instead of him being alone, he could have had a certain someone right next to him, or when Eleonora is having one of her days where she can’t stop crying and there’s no reason for her to cry in the first place. Even when she’s sleeping and Jimmy can hear the beginnings of a whimper through the baby monitor and has to drop whatever he is doing to tend to her—it could have been easier if _he_ were around.

            “I feel like this is my fault. I did this to her and I am a horrible person for it. She’s sick because I didn’t even know she existed until she was out in the world. I didn’t take care of my body—and that affected her. She’s only 6 weeks old—I can’t lose her already. I could have compromised her immune system with whatever I did before she was born. I could have given her a not so great start…I just-I just don’t know anymore. I wish it were me instead of her.” So into his own thoughts and admissions, he doesn’t hear the door click close or feel the presence of another person until a hand is on his shoulder. Nearly jumping out of his own bones, Jimmy takes a deep breath, calming his heart and nerves down enough to focus on whoever just touched him. Looking up, he wipes at the tracks left behind by his tears, and in his line of vision is a young woman, who is shorter than he is when standing. She smiles at him before occupying the empty seat next to him. Jimmy gives Danny a look and in that silent understanding, Danny ends the call.

            “Hi, I’m Dr. Heidi Bash—and yes, I do have a sister who works here. I am in charge of your daughter’s care. It was a good thing that you got her here when you did. From the different tests we did, it looks like your poor daughter caught a really nasty infection. It was starting to turn into pneumonia, so since it was caught early enough, we have put her on antiviral medication to start reversing the symptoms. She’s pretty stable right now—it was a little touch and go with her temperature, but she’s stabilized now. Would you like to see her?” For all of the pain that he’s going through, he would never pass up a chance to be at his daughter’s side. Giving the doctor a simple nod as his answer, she smiles at him before getting up from the chair beside Jimmy. She moves her head as an indication to follow her, and Jimmy can’t help but feel excited and nervous at the same time. He’s excited because he knows that his daughter is going to be okay, but he’s nervous because he knows that he might see something that will upset him. The doctor swipes her ID card, letting the door unlock and open automatically. Machines are beeping and making different noises, but yet, he’s on a mission to see his child. Walking all the way to the end of the unit, there is a glass window on one side of a door, and there is where he spots her. She’s hooked up to a monitor, an IV running into one of her tiny feet, and the monitor is showing the constant beat of her heart. It takes everything in his body to not break down again.

            “You’re going to have to put these on. We don’t want her to get anything else from the outside world.” She hands him a pair of yellow disposable scrubs. She then hands him a pair of gloves and he can’t believe that it’s gotten this close—he can’t even touch her without some type of barrier. He feels like punching a wall but instead the turn of a doorknob and a creek of the door have him walking into the unknown. There’s an empty chair next to the isolette his baby is in. He puts his hand through one of the openings on the side and she automatically grasps his finger.

            “Hi honey, I’m so sorry that you’re in there and not with me. I wish I could hold you. I know this must suck but daddy’s really sad that you’re in there.” There are tears again, and no comfort from them. He can’t hold her, sing to her or even take her home. The worst part is that he can’t stay the night with her and after a few hours, the time for visitors is over and he has to leave. It’s only made worse by the fact that he’s only half-way through his own recovery. Even though his surgery went well, his kidney is still healing. Eleonora turns her head to look at him—and the air in the room is sucked into a vacuum. Her blue eyes are silently asking Jimmy why-why is she not able to hear his heartbeat? Why does everything hurt? Why is she alone? He can already see that she’s been trying to make herself feel better, but she misses him every time he has to leave. Nighttime was their time together. It was the time when Jimmy would bathe her, sing to her, and let the beat of his heart lull her to sleep.

            “Hey, maybe you want to try to bottle-feed her? If she latches on, then we can take out the feeding tube and she’ll be able to go home in a week.” A spark of hope makes its home in the chambers of his heart. He wishes he could take her home right now but instead he’ll be content in just holding her—even if he’s in the yellow gown. The nurse delicately pulls his daughter out of her isolette, and for a moment, Jimmy feels his heart drop down into his stomach. His poor baby is still attached to the wires that are tracking her—making sure that she’s okay. Her small body turns to curl into his chest knowing that her personal music box lies right under her dad’s ribcage. Jimmy has to look up towards the ceiling to hold back tears that want to fall. The nurse then hands him a pre-mixed bottle of formula, and he is hoping that she is willing to take it. Thinking to himself for a moment, Jimmy begins to hum, knowing that when he feeds her at home, he hums to her as a form of comfort. She begins to eat straight out of the bottle, and Jimmy’s emotions get the better of him. He begins to sob, knowing that he could have his baby home in a week.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       

            A week came and went, only being interrupted by the nurses calling him at 7 in the morning to let him know that his daughter would be discharged. He was just so happy to hear that—he’s been unable to get a full night’s worth of rest without his baby by his side. Every time he looks around his room—what once used to be the room of a young single man—he finds her toys all over the place. Her baby tub lies in the spare sink in his bathroom, and his living room has one of those play mats in one corner. He went from not having a care in the world to having his life revolve around one girl—the one who means the most.

            Driving himself to the hospital, his nerves radiate throughout his body, and he can’t believe that he’s finally going to take Eleonora home. As the nurse lets him into the nursery unit—his daughter being moved 3 days after entering the hospital because she started to get better, he can’t wait to hold her close. There is a nurse holding his baby in her arms before she looks up and smiles at him. He’s fighting back tears again, knowing that this will be the last time for a while that he’s in the hospital with her. The nurse hands over his baby into his arms and all he can think about is how happy he is to have his purpose back. The doctor comes in just then, and she motions for Jimmy to follow her. Stepping into her office, he’s nervous but happy—nervous because she’s going to tell him what she got sick from in the first place, but happy because she beat it and she’s coming home.

            “After extensive testing and antivirals, we did determine that it was pneumonia. I am pretty sure that the constant changes in temperature—going from the hot outside to a cold indoor place did her any favors, and it is also the early beginnings of allergy season for a lot of people. I am suspecting that she is one of those who has seasonal allergies. Luckily, since the pneumonia was caught on time, she got the right antiviral medication and she was able to beat it. I am pretty sure that she’s going to be okay and this shouldn’t affect her in the future. With that said, I am handing over my recommendations for treatment at home if you start to see signs of it happening again. You will see that I put in a prescription for antiviral medication that is safe for her to have, and a list of different humidifiers to keep on hand. Other than that, you are free to take her home.” The doctor smiles at him from across her desk, and Jimmy is very cautious in his celebration. He settles for shaking her hand before walking out of the hospital with his baby in his arms. Placing her in the car seat, he’s happy to be able to just buckle her in. Even if she’s asleep, he just loves to look at her from the rear-view mirror of his car.

            “Alright sweetie, we’re home.” He smiles to himself as he unbuckles her from the car seat. He prefers to just leave it in the car and carry her out in his arms. Opening the door to his house, Jimmy feels as if he can breathe again. His lungs feel open and new, and he knows it’s all because of the little girl he holds in his arms.


End file.
